


Just a flesh wound

by kaybee988



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Everyone Loves Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Identity Reveal, Medical Inaccuracies, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sick Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaybee988/pseuds/kaybee988
Summary: Peter thought going on vacation with the Starks would be the greatest - one of the greatest - things to ever happen to him.But it just might be the thing that kills him.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 20
Kudos: 242
Collections: Irondad and Spiderson Secret Santa 2020





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pokeydotes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokeydotes/gifts).



> Merry Christmas Blayne!!! Hope you enjoy! :)

Knock. Knock.

Knock. Knock.

Tony groaned, barely opening his eyes to grab his Stark Phone off the bedside table. 7:00 AM blaring at him in an annoyingly bright text.

“Kid, what the hell are you doing up so early? May is always telling me she has to drag you up in the morning.”  
  
Tony’s bedroom door opened wider as Peter bounded into the room. “Because we’re on vacation, Mr. Stark! It’s different,” he insisted.

“Whatever you say, kid. Just keep it down. If we wake up the missus before she gets her 8 hours, we’ll both be in for it,” warns Tony. Quietly, he grabs a clean bathing suit and a t-shirt out of a pile on the floor and ushers the two of them out of the bedroom.

It wasn’t that Tony was bored of Fiji, but truth be told, it was Pepper’s favorite spot and he figured he needed some points after his heartfelt, but over the top Christmas present. He should’ve learned from the Bunny incident of 2013. 

It may not have been the romantic getaway Tony had in mind at first, but he couldn’t turn May down, knowing what it took for her to even ask him to take care of Peter while she went to care for her sick friend upstate. So here they were, days after Christmas, in literal paradise.

Peter tried to convince Tony and May, to no avail, that he was perfectly capable of looking after himself for a few days, but no one wanted to be reminded of the toaster debacle.

He felt a little awkward tagging along, but all of those feelings left him as soon as he stepped off the plane and was greeted by white beaches and palm trees. Ok, this definitely beats New York in the winter, thought Peter.

In the end, these few days in the sun, was just what Peter needed.

The resort was top of the line, of course, spared no expense. Every other morning, Peter gorged himself on omelettes and pancakes freshly made at their respective stations, fresh fruit, toast, bacon, and a croissant to go. Today, however, he nibbled at a lone blueberry muffin.

“Feeling alright Pete? I thought nothing was gonna stop you from trying every omelette combination,” joked Tony.

“Yeah, just not that hungry this morning. Maybe it’s ‘last day of vacation depression’”

“Not a real thing.”

“Is too,” mumbled Peter, forcing himself to take a bigger piece of his muffin.

“Alright, alright. But, I expect to see a full plate at dinner.” 

Where did that come from?, thought Tony. He was the last person that should be reminding other people about healthy eating habits, but these things always happened naturally when he was around Peter. He knows Pepper’s seen it. Rhodey’s given him a strange look or two. 

He felt responsible for bringing the kid into this in the first place, but he was also confident Peter would’ve worked his way on to the Avengers radar sooner or later, with or without his help. After the Toomes incident, there was no denying the natural affinity he felt for the kid.

Tony and Peter made their way down to the beach after breakfast, reserving three lounge chairs.

“This view ain’t too shabby, huh Pete?” asked Tony, staring out over the horizon.

Peter shook his head. “Nope, I could definitely get used to this. It almost reminds me of the planet at the end of Rogue One.”

“Rogue what?”

Peter’s mouth dropped. “Rogue One, Mr. Stark! Only the best recent Star Wars film! We definitely have to get it for movie night.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that kid,” laughed Tony.

The closest Peter had ever gotten to a beach before was laying in one of Ned’s neighbors’ old beach chairs on the roof of their apartment building. They only lasted 15 minutes before they conceded to the blistering sun and went back inside. The sun on the beach with the sea breeze was much more pleasant.

He could feel sleep nagging at him as he heard Pepper’s soft footsteps coming up behind him.

Tony cleared off the towel on the chair next to him. “Morning, hon. Grabbed you a muffin from the buffet.”

“Thanks, babe,” greeted Pepper, bending down to kiss his cheek, gladly accepting the wrapped treat.

“Pep, how would you feel about starting up a SI office out here? It’d give us a chance to get out of the city.”

Pepper undid the knot on her wrap and comfortably arranged herself on the chair. 

“Hmm,” she grunted. “Sounds like a vacation for you and more work for me. Plus, we just got the Tower populated again. You’re gonna let Cap run the whole show?”

“You’re right. They need me. After all, I am the glue that holds everyone together.”

“What would we do without you?” mocks Pepper.

“Crash and burn. Definitely,” added Peter.

Tony smirked. Just a year ago he was introducing himself to this kid in Queens and sometimes it scared him how much the teenager had ingrained himself into his life in such a short time.

He turned his head to respond, when he noticed a bump on Peter’s left side.

“When’d ya get that, Pete?” asked Tony.

“Oh…uh…I’m not sure. Maybe when we were snorkeling?” Peter shrugged. “It’s probably just a mosquito bite or something. They always blew up when I was a kid.”

Tony frowned, not liking how red the bite was already turning. 

“Just make sure you put something on it when we get back.”

“Will do, Mr. Stark,” yawned Peter, turning over to get the sun out of his eyes.

 _Yeah,_ Tony thought, _life’s not too bad right now._

He should’ve known.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It started out like any other Monday. Peter avoided Flash’s attempt to run him over in the parking lot and answered all of Ned’s questions about being on vacation with Iron Man.

“Did you get room service? Did you run up the bill like in Home Alone 2? Did you have a butler?” 

“Yes. No. And yes.”

“You actually had a butler?!”

“No man,” Peter laughed. “It was just a regular hotel.”

“Dude how would I know? Tony Stark could buy the whole island if he wanted to.”

Peter couldn’t deny that.

He tried to ignore the bite on his side getting redder and more painful as the day wore on. He excused himself during lunch and made a beeline for the bathroom. Making sure all the stalls were empty, he carefully lifted his shirt to get a good look at his side.

His eyes went wide looking at the red knot, a few inches below his armpit. It had doubled in size since yesterday and red tentacles were beginning to radiate from it. 

_Right, definitely not a mosquito bite then._  
  
Peter gingerly raised his other arm to touch the blister burning up the left side of his body.

It was hot to the touch.

_Shit_

This didn’t make any sense. Why weren’t his spider powers kicking in?

It had been a year at least since he had a cold and now he thinks he might have a fever and an infected bug bite. Another one.

Before Peter could think about it any more, he heard the bell ring indicating he was already late for Spanish.

He tried to focus on how to conjugate whatever Señor Matos was saying, but the dull headache he had this morning had blown into a full grown migraine.

_Not good. This is not good._

He needed to get to the Tower.

He needed Mr. Stark.

He raised his hand as he stood and started to shove his binder into his backpack.

“Señor Parker?”

“Señor Matos, pue…puedo…”

The floor started swaying. Peter felt like he was falling.

_Nope, shit, I’m really falling._

He could make out the blurry figure of Ned kneeling over him, yelling something, worry evident on his face.

Peter was swimming in fog, struggling to take every breath.

“Call Mr. Stark,” Peter tried to say, but it was like the words were all jumbled in his brain, making them impossible to speak.

He struggled to focus on the fluorescent lights as they started getting dimmer.

And dimmer.

And then darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony knew this meeting was going to be the death of him. If he had to hear Steve talk about weekly workouts or Clint complain about cleaning the vents one more time, he was going to lose it. 

“And another thing-“ started Steve.

"Boss, incoming call for you,” interrupted Friday.

 _Saved by the AI._ “Thank god. Good meeting guys, same time next week,” said Tony, doing his best not to run out of the conference room.

“But Tony we’re not done. I still have-“

“I’ll read the minutes Cap. I promise this time.” 

Tony signed in relief as he stepped out into the hallway. 

“FRI, patch it through to my cell please.”

“Right away, boss.”

Tony pulled out his phone, just as it started ringing. “Stark here.”

“Mr. Tony Stark?”

Immediately, Tony froze, not recognizing the voice on the other end.

“Who is this and how did you get this number?” 

“Mr. Stark, this is Principal Morita of Midtown School of Science and Technology. Do you know a Peter Parker?”

Tony’s blood turned to ice. 

“What happened?”

“Honestly sir, I actually didn’t know if you would answer. His Aunt is stuck in the ER and you are his secondary emergency contact, but- “

“What is this about? What’s wrong with Peter?” barked Tony, trying to keep his temper under control.

“Right, Mr. Parker fainted in his Spanish class and he seems to be running a high fever.”

“I’ll be right there, tell him I’m coming to get him.”

He didn’t give Principal Morita an opportunity to respond before he hung up and paged Happy. A suit would get him there the fastest, but it wouldn’t do him any good if Peter was really sick and needed to be taken home. 

“What’s up, Boss?” Happy asked, stepping off the elevator.

“We need to get to Midtown. Now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Peter, peter, honey you need to wake up.”

“Peter.”

“Peter.”

“M…May?”

“No, honey, it’s Ms. Abbot.”

_Ms. Abbot? But that didn’t make any sense. Why would he need to be in the nurse’s office?_

His senses started coming back to him as did the pain. 

Peter brought his arm up slowly, trying to block his eyes from the bright lights. He squinted, fighting off the nausea. By now, his head was throbbing, as if someone had taken a mallet to his skull. 

“That’s it. Sweetheart, don’t worry, Principal Morita went to call your Aunt,” soothed Ms. Abbot. 

Peter had always liked Ms. Abbot. Sometimes, when he would have to go to her for the occasional black eye or bruise, she’d write him a note and let him rest up while they played a few rounds of chess. Ben had tried to teach him when he was younger and Peter initially only started playing with Ms. Abbot to stall until Flash got bored and moved on, but he was surprised when he actually enjoyed their almost weekly matches.

Principal Morita appeared suddenly in the doorway, looking like he ran all the way from his office.

“Iron Man is coming. To Midtown.” 

“Mr — Mr. Stark?” mumbled Peter.

Peter did his best to concentrate and willed his mind to stay awake, but the pain in his side became unbearable. Every time his shirt rubbed against the growth, the wave of pain paralyzed him, slowly settling back to a dull ache until the next movement burned through his body.

He wasn’t sure if it was the migraine or the fever, but he could feel his senses going haywire. Everything was just too much. Too bright. Too loud. What he would give to be able to put on the sensory deprivation mask Mr. Stark had given him or be in his room at the Tower.

He could feel a burn start growing in his throat with every breath. Just as he was about to ask for some water, he heard commotion coming from the hallway, and Mr. Stark came barreling into the nurse’s office.

Tony barely paid the two adults any attention as he scanned the room for Peter.

Seeing the kid barely conscious on the cot was enough to make him go into cardiac arrest. Again.

“Hey kid,” whispered Tony, coming to Peter’s bedside. 

“Mr. Stark I’m so….so….thirsty.” Peter whispered back, forcing each word out.

Tony didn’t have to even look back as he heard Happy start filling a paper cup from the water cooler.

“Alright kid, let’s sit you up for a second,” Tony urged, placing his hand on Peter’s back, inching him upward.

Peter whimpered at the sudden movement, making Tony pause.

“It’s my side,” said Peter, clenching his teeth even harder.

Gingerly, he lifted his shirt and tried not to react at the infected growth, twice the size it was only a few days ago, with pus oozing from it making the shirt stick to his skin.

“It’s alright Pete, we’re gonna get you some help,” Tony stood, motioning for Happy to come support Peter’s other side, sitting him upright on the bed.

“Take a drink, kid. You think you can make it to the car?”

Peter nodded, chugging the small cup in seconds.

Peter was sure he heard Happy mumble a “Hey, kid” but he was putting all his energy on not crying out from the pain of getting out of the bed. He could feel the fever building, heat radiating off of him like a burning oven. 

By the time they made it to the car, he was on the brink of unconsciousness.

“Hap, step on it. FRI, alert Bruce. Tell him to have medical waiting,” ordered Tony.

“On it.”

It only took a few minutes before Peter began to lean towards Tony, resting his head on his shoulder, like he had grown so accustomed to do while watching movies or listening to one of Steve’s lectures.

“Pete, hey we’re gonna figure this out. Bruce will know what to do.”

Peter moaned in thanks. “My healing’s not. It’s not working.”

Tony laughed, despite his concern. “Yeah, that’s obvious Pete. Why didn’t you tell me this was serious?”

“Wasn’t till an hour ago. I thought it would just go away.”

Sometimes Tony forgot Peter was just a teenager. A kid. Except when he said shit like that.

Sometimes he even regretted bringing him to Germany. 

“Pete, you wanna lay back down?”

Peter hesitated before nodding his head ever so slightly.

Tony stretched Peter’s seat belt so he could comfortably curl up on the plush leather seat, his head coming to rest on Tony’s leg.

He installed the ’Tis But A Scratch’ protocol for Karen to alert him of any injury he sustained while on duty, but this happened on _his_ watch. Why hadn’t he insisted to get it looked at right away? Why hadn’t he noticed it when it happened? 

The media liked to say Tony had the Midas touch, but Tony knew better. He wrecked everything he touched. He just hoped Peter would be the exception.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy made it back to the Tower in record time. 

Bruce was already waiting on the ground floor with the med team and a gurney. 

“Tony, what happened? Are you ok? Cho’s on her way.” rambled Bruce, running up to the town car.

“It’s not me.”

Bruce stilled, seeing Peter’s head resting on Tony’s lap. If he didn’t know better, he’d just think he was sleeping.

“Why did you bring him here? He needs a hospital!”

“I’ll explain later, just help him."

Bruce shared a knowing look with Tony, gently wrapping his arms under Peter’s shoulders to get him on the gurney.

Peter never even stirred.

The only thing keeping Tony from completely freaking the fuck out was keeping his wrist on Peter’s. His heartbeat keeping them both alive.

Peter only began to rise when the team started hooking him up to IV’s.

“Pete? Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark, I, I can’t breathe,” pants Peter. Every word separated by a heavy breath.

Tony looked worriedly at Bruce.

“And I’m…I’m so…cold. And, and thirsty.”

“That’s probably the fever, bud.”

“Hey Peter, I want you to try taking deep breaths for me, okay? We’ll get you some water but we also just hooked you up to some fluids. I think we should take a blood sample too,” instructed Bruce.

Peter was unable to take a full breath. It felt like a rubber band was wrapped around his lungs, only allowing them to expand a fraction, resulting in shallow, hurried pants.

Bruce wheeled over an oxygen tank and quickly brought the mask up to Peter’s face. 

Peter nodded his head in thanks, inhaling the extra oxygen.

Peter’s veins were still so thin, despite the fluids already hooked up to his body, it took Bruce a little longer than he would’ve liked to find a vein to extract the blood sample.

Once the tube was filled, he placed it in the centrifuge, waiting for FRIDAY to analyze it.

Tony immediately noticed the way Bruce’s shoulders stiffened as he looked at the results.

“What is it Bruce?”

“His white blood cell count is 15,000 and with a fever of 103, I’d say he has a serious staph infection. He needs antibiotics yesterday.”

Tony paled at the news. “He…he has this infection on his side. He got it last week when we were on vacation.”

Bruce raised his eyebrows at that. Sure, he had gotten to know the kid from his work in the lab, but taking interns on vacation was a whole other level.

“How you doing Peter? Any better with the oxygen?”

Peter removed the plastic mask, breathing still ragged. “Not. Not really. I. I still feel like. I can’t. Breathe.”

“Alright peter, I want you to relax but we might have to give you a breathing tube so we can give you the right antibiotics and stop this infection from getting any further. I think it might have gotten into your lungs.”

Peter’s eyes widened, looking nervously at Tony.

“If we do that,” Tony paused, preparing himself up for the interrogation he was sure to receive. “He needs Cap’s knockout drugs.”

Bruce screwed his face in confusion. “What are you talking about Tony?”

Tony glanced at Peter for a second before answering. Peter giving him the slightest nod.

“He’s Spider-Man.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! I blame post Christmas depression and work life.

The silence in the room was palpable. In all the scenarios Peter had imagined with the rest of the Avengers learning about his identity, him struggling to breathe in Medbay, hooked up to IVs and borderline delirious was not one of them. 

“Spider-Man? The guy you told me you tracked down to bring to Germany, who fights with the Avengers is a 15 year old?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“16.”

“Not now, Pete,” snapped Tony. “Look, you and Cap can lay into me all you want, but the kid can’t go to a regular hospital. Cho already knows. Just, please, Bruce do whatever you have to do.”

Bruce looked like he had more to say on the subject, but he nodded his head and moved so he was directly in front of Peter.

“Alright, Peter, we need to treat the infection and get your immune system back up. To help your breathing, I’m gonna give you a breathing tube but you’d be more comfortable if we knocked you out for a while. How do you feel about that?”

A million thoughts ran trough Peter’s mind. Of course he trusted Bruce, but he had never been intubated before, even during his worst asthma attacks. What if something went wrong? What would May think? Where was May?

He realized he must’ve mumbled some of these thoughts out loud. Even with the mask on Tony was able to make out “May”.

“Don’t worry about your Aunt, kid. I’ll explain everything to her when she gets here,” soothed Tony.

Peter hesitated a minute before nodding.

Bruce made quick work of gathering the appropriate tubes and wires and dragged a canister of Cap’s special formula anesthesia out of the locked utility closet. 

“I’m gonna take some cultures from that wound on your side too. Hopefully we’ll get a better idea of what we’re dealing with,” Bruce said, cottons swabs already in hand. “This might hurt a little.”

Peter took a deep breath and nodded, steeling himself for the now too familiar burn from any pressure on the open wound. 

Tony stood back, watching Bruce run his medical tests, thinking how the hell did they get here? He thought he was getting used to being a pseudo father/mentor but how could he not notice that kid who eats 3rds and 4ths at dinner had started eating less and less?

Peter had insisted he would tell May about that damn bite and would let her check it out, but knowing him, he didn’t want to be a bother. _A whole week, jesus kid._

A cry from Peter shook Tony from his thoughts as he hurried to Peter’s side. Bruce was just getting ready to start the anesthesia.

“Mr. Stark, tell — tell May I love her and I’m — I’m sorry —“

“Hey no , no, none of that,” Tony interrupted. “You can tell her all that yourself when you wake up, Pete. Bruce is just gonna make you go to sleep for a little while.”

Peter nodded, blinking, forcing the tears back. _Keep it together Parker._

Bruce placed a new mask over his mouth and nose and instructed him to take big deep breaths.

“Alright, Peter, I want you to count backwards from 20 and take a couple big breaths.”

20…

_It’s all gonna be alright. Mr. Stark will figure it out_

19…

_May, I love you. I’m so sorry._

18…

_Ned must be freaking out, I should call…._

17…

_Mich…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And I’m in,” Bruce announced, extracting the medical equipment and setting Peter up on the breathing machine.

“Alright, Tony. It’s just just us now. Tell me how exactly this kid ended up here.”

Tony told him everything. Meeting the kid in Queens, Germany, Toomes, deciding not to reveal his identity to the others yet. 

“Pete was a little shaken up after the Vulture incident and wanted to keep his identity secret for a little while longer.”

Bruce nodded “I can understand that.”

“So, when everything happened with the Accords and to keep up a cover for his Aunt in the beginning, I made him an intern. Got him access to the Tower and the lab. But I couldn’t stop him from Spider-Manning.” 

Tony started to rub the back of his neck, forcing his eyes closed, in effort to keep his voice steady.

“Tony, you can’t blame yourself.”

Tony turned his head sharply.

“Then who the hell am I supposed to blame, doc? This happened on my watch.”

“You can’t keep an eye on him every second of the day Tony. It happened and now we’re gonna figure out how to fix it,” soothed Bruce.

“Alright, first, why isn’t his spider healing kicking in?”

Bruce pulled up all the files FRIDAY had on Spider-Man, filling all the computer screens with different files with a flick of his wrist.

“You said he hasn’t really been eating?” Bruce asked, after a minute of thought.

“I’ll have to check with May, but I noticed it the last day of vacation,” confirmed Tony.

“Sounds like the infection was already starting to attack his immune system and with him not replenishing himself, it just made it easier for the virus to take hold. Whatever Peter got in his system was nasty to begin with.”

Tony sighed deeply, thinking of how he was going to explain this to May. 

Bruce slid his glasses off his face, carefully folding them into this shirt pocket. “I say we wait for Helen to get here before we start pumping him full of medicine. I’ll start giving him some fluids and nutrition in the meantime.”

“Agreed,” nodded Tony.

“Ready to face the other wolves? We were all worried when you called me.”

Tony sighed again, glancing once more at the unconscious kid in his Medbay. 

“Now or never. Lead the way Banner.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was still a shock for Tony to see his former team back together, but especially in the waiting room for news on his kid. Everyone minus Thor, he was still off world.

Not surprisingly, Steve was the first to speak up. “Tony, what’s going on? We thought it was you in there, but FRIDAY said it was Peter. Is he ok?”

Not trusting himself to speak yet, Tony barely had to look at Bruce before the doctor answered Steve.

“He’s knocked out right now. We’re waiting on Cho to get here before we make an actual diagnosis, but it looks like he’s got a nasty staph infection in his system.”

Tony cleared his throat. “You’re gonna find out anyway, but you should know, Peter is Spider-Man.”

The silence was palpable.

“Peter Parker?”

“No, Peter Dinklage. Yes, Cap…Peter Parker.”

“But I fought him in Germany, Tony. I could’ve killed him,” paled Steve.

“You give yourself too much credit Cap. The kid can be wily when he needs to be.”

“No wonder he wouldn’t shut up. Teenagers always need to the last word,” Sam thought, shaking his head.

“Yeah, look who’s talking,” smirked Bucky.

“I told you he sounded familiar.”

“You can’t even remember who as in the movie we watched last night.”

“Boys,” Natasha interrupted sending a harsh glare their way.

Sam and Bucky had the sense to look admonished towards Tony, but neither of them would back down to each other.

Steve cleared his throat. “Tony, I don’t understand how you thought it was ok to bring a teenager into this fight.”

Tony opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Natasha.

“Peter was already Spider-Man before he met Tony. He just gave him an upgrade.”

Now, it was Tony’s turn to be surprised.

“You knew?”

Natasha just shrugged. “I had my suspicions. Then I read his file.”

“Clearly, my security system needs an upgrade,” said Tony, shooting his eyes toward the ceiling. 

“So was Peter ever really an intern?” asked Clint.

“Well, yes and no. Pete needed a cover story for school and his Aunt in the beginning, and then with you guys coming back, it was just easier to keep that up until he figured out when to tell you.”

“The kid’s so god damn smart but he doesn’t have one ounce of common sense,” said Tony with a hollow laugh. 

Silence once again filled the room. 

They had all been witness to Peter’s intelligence and undeniable likability in one way or another. Whether it was tinkering around in Tony’s lab, ranking favorite cereals at midnight with Bucky, or racing through the vents with Clint.

Steve was stopped short of asking another question by Bucky placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at his oldest friend who just gave the slightest shake of his head.

They were all missing the teenager’s presence, but it was clear it was effecting Tony the hardest. 

Even FRIDAY seemed to sense the emotion in the room. “Boss….”

“Go ahead FRI,” Tony coughed.

“Dr. Cho just arrived.”

“I’ll go meet her and get her up to speed. We’ll meet you back there Tony.”

Tony seemed to breathe easy for the first time since he had picked Peter up from Midtown. “Thanks Bruce.”

Bruce simply nodded before he disappeared into the elevator. 

“Boss, May Parker is on her way up.”

_There goes that content feeling._

Before Tony could even respond to FRIDAY, he heard May’s tell tale platforms marching down the hallway.

All the Avengers turned as a frantic, fiery brunette burst through the Med Bay doors, Happy struggling to keep up.

“Tony!” shouted May. “What happened? Where is he? I tried to get off work as soon as I could, I got Shelly to cover me and I went home and Peter still wasn’t back, but it’s been hours since the school called me. What’s wrong?” 

Tony grabbed May’s shoulders, forcing her to take a breath. “May, May, listen to me. Just calm down alright, I’ll explain everything.”

May shakily exhaled, nodding her head, her glasses sliding a bit down her nose.

Tony was just about finished getting May up to speed when one of Peter’s monitors started beeping.

“What’s going on?” asked May.

Tony made a beeline for Peter’s room, May on his heels. The automatic doors seemed to take ages to open as Tony watched Cho give Peter another shot.

“What happened? Is he okay?” Tony asked, taking his place next to Peter’s bed, May on the other.

“His vitals suddenly started dropping. The normal antibiotics don’t seem to be working. I expected his healing to kick in by now,” murmured Cho.

“I”m May, Peter’s Aunt. What do you think is wrong with him?

“Dr. Banner already correctly diagnosed a staph infection, but I believe Peter has developed MRSA.”

Both Tony and May froze. 

“Ok, ok doc, in layman’s terms. What does that mean?”

Cho looked up from her Stark Pad, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her right ear. “MRSA is type of staph infection that’s especially hard to treat because it’s resistant to most antibiotics. We usually don’t find it in patients until it spreads to other organs or their blood.”

“But…you just said you think he has it, so you caught it quick enough right?” worried May.

“We’ll start giving him an antibiotic cocktail of sorts as soon as possible.” 

May nodded at the doctor, not trusting herself to speak. She tightened her grip on Peter as if it were a lifeline.

“Hey, baby, it’s May. I’m here now,” May whispered, her voice getting caught in her throat. “I love you so much Peter. Can you hear me?”

Cho placed her hand on top of her interlocked hand with Peter’s. “Peter’s young. And a fighter. He won’t do down easy.”

“I know it. Thank you Dr…”

“You can call me Helen.”

“Thank you, Helen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Peter’s fever hit 106.

Two days later, his kidneys started to fail.

Four days later, his blood pressure dropped.

The constant beeping woke Tony out of the fragile sleep he had just settled into. He had finally convinced May to go home and grab a few things and he would set her up in one of the guest rooms. They both agreed that if…when Peter woke up, it would be better for him to have medical care available 24/7 and stay at the Tower temporarily.

“What’s going on?” asked Tony, sleepily.

Cho’s fingers were moving a record speed over the Stark Pad. “His pressure dropped. I think it’s gotten into his blood.”

Before Tony could respond, Bruce came barging Into Peter’s room, computer printouts crumpled in his hand.

“Helen! Helen! I think I’ve got it!” shouted Bruce, excitedly.

Tony knew everyone was working overtime to try to cure Peter, the tiredness evident on their faces, but it just wasn’t fast enough in Tony’s mind. He was so used to the kid healing quickly, never even to have to visit Medbay and now he’s been sitting by his bedside for almost a week.

As Bruce listed off another combination of antibiotics to Cho who began hooking up different bags to Peter’s picc line, Tony thought it was almost a blessing that Peter had been asleep for most of this. 

May, obviously, had also been a near constant presence and would read him comic books or relay messages from Ned. Tony once overheard how she suspected Happy would be asking her out soon and he definitely made a mental note to talk to him about that later.

The other Avengers had been by too. Tony thought he almost saw Peter react when Natasha said they could spar together when he was up to it.

“Is this gonna work Bruce?” asked Tony, quietly.

Bruce looked up, still surprised by this paternal side of Tony Stark. “It looks promising Tony. The problem is the virus is mutating, so hopefully we caught it in time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony wasn’t even aware that the pair had left, until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Strawberry blonde hair fell on his other.

“Any change Tony?”

“He’s getting worse, Pep. This shouldn’t be happening.”

Pepper pulled up May’s usual seat and grabbed Tony’s hand. “Helen said they just gave him another round of antibiotics.”

“Yeah, and what if that doesn’t work?” grumbled Tony, taking back his hand. “Just like the others. We can’t keep pumping the kid with this-ide and that-cin and just hope it works!” 

Tony heard his voice rising. All the emotion he kept held in the past several days, making its way to the surface.

“He shouldn’t even be here! This is all my fault!” Tony repeated, cradling his head in his hands.

“You’re right,” Pepper stated. “It is your fault.”

Tony stilled, meeting her eyes, unable to stop the stray tear falling down his cheek.

“It’s your fault he has some of the best medical professionals working on him as we speak. It’s your fault he has an actual suit when out being Spider Man. Tony, you know how much Peter loves doing what he does. He would’ve kept being Spider-Man with or without your resources.”

Tony just shook his head, rising again from his chair.

“You’re not listening to me, Pep. I’m talking about this,” he says, pointing to Peter in the hospital bed. “This. Right here is my fault. It didn’t happen in a suit. It happened on a god damn beach when he was under my care. Under our care.”

“I just…I just want to keep him safe.” Tony asked quietly.

Pepper stood next to him, resting her chin on his shoulder and smiled.

“That’s part of being a parent.”

Tony let the rest of the tears fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another two days until Peter opened his eyes.

Cho and Bruce couldn’t quite explain it.

One day, Peter’s levels had started rising and his white blood cell count returned to normal levels.

The first thing Peter became aware of was something blocking his throat and he was struggling to breathe.

May threw her book to the ground and immediately took Peter by his shoulders, forcing him back down on the bed.

“Peter! Peter, honey just relax, it’s ok.”

Peter brought his hands to this throat, eyes going wide when he felt the tube.

May nodded. “It’s helping you breathe, baby. They’ll take it out soon but you gotta relax, ok? In and out through the nose.” 

Peter willed his heartbeat to slow and closed his eyes, forcing air in and out of his nostrils.

“FRIDAY, call Tony.”

“I already alerted him. He’s on his way Miss Parker.”

“I told you to knock it off with that Miss stuff.”

“I’ll work on that…May.”

Peter was shocked at the exchange, to say the least. He can’t remember May even being in the Tower before now.

“I could get used to it.” May smirked. “Oh, baby we were all so worried. You gave us a real good scare.

“Understatement of the year.”

Peter’s eyes shot to a tired looking Tony, his normally neat shirt rumpled from days of wear, hair mussed and eyes still slightly red.

“Nice to see you awake, kid,” said Tony, assuming his normal position by Peter’s bed. He went to move a stray piece of hair out of Peter’s face, his hand running through Peter’s curls. A move that was so familiar to him, but one he realized he hadn’t done since Peter’s been there.

Cho and Bruce arrived a few moments later. Peter’s healing was finally starting to kick in and Cho decided that the breathing tube could be removed.

“Just cough it up Peter. That’s it. Keep going,” coached Bruce.

Peter didn’t think he had ever felt anything so unpleasant. His throat was now burning as the seemingly never ending tube was being pulled out of his body.

“There ya go, bud,” said Tony, clapping him on the back as Peter gave one final cough. He gladly accepted the cloth from Dr. Cho to clean his chin and the front of his hospital gown.

“Based on your current rate, I expect you to make a full recovery, but I still want to keep you here tonight. Just to be sure.”

“Thank you Helen,” said May.

“Of course,” smiled Dr. Cho. “Peter, I’ll be back later.”

Peter nodded, still trying to clear his throat.

“I’ll go get you something to drink, baby. Be right back,” May said, grabbing Bruce on her way out. 

“Wha…” protested Bruce, but was silenced by one look from May. “Glad you’re awake Peter!”

All week, Tony had thought about what he would say to Peter, and now he didn’t even know where to start. 

Peter and Tony let the silence settle over them for a minute before they both started to speak.

“I’m sor —“

“I’m sor—“

“You first, kid.”

Peter coughed and bit his lip before continuing. “I’m so sorry Mr. Stark. I didn’t think this would turn into….this,” as he waved his arms around the room.

“It really didn’t start hurting too bad until that day at school and then they called you and that’s all I remember really.”

“I’m not mad about that,” said Tony.

Peter looked up, hopeful. “Really? You’re not?”

“Well, yes, but I should’ve made it a bigger deal when I noticed something was off with your metabolism. I let you down Pete and I…I’m sorry.”

“N…no, Mr. Stark you have nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident,” urged Peter.

Tony scrubbed at his eyes and motioned for Peter to move his leg as he sat on the bed, exhaustion catching up to him.

“You know I’m not real good at talking about stuff, but maybe we should cut back your intern hours.”

Peter tried to meet his eyes, but Tony refused to look at him. “Don’t…don’t do that Mr. Stark. Don’t push me away, please.”

“It’s what’s best for you, Peter,” Tony sighed, continuing to rub the inside of his palm.

“You think you know what’s best for me?” Peter rustled the sheets as he sat up straighter in bed. “What’s made you the expert in that department? Was it taking away my suit or lying to me about what happened in Siberia?”

Peter regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.

“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that Mr. Stark. But, please. I…”

“I was supposed to be looking out for you,” interrupted Tony. “I just keep thinking this is my fault.”

“That’s like saying it was Ben’s fault I broke my arm when I tried to pretend I was in the circus and grab the ladder on the fire escape or May’s when Ned and I pretended to be Jedi’s and I fell and banged my head on the coffee table. Things just happen sometimes.”

“Mr. Stark, I don’t know if I could ever tell you what this past year has meant to me. I always looked up to you, you know? Ben even saved up for a year to surprise me with tickets to your Expo. He was pretty pissed the whole thing got cut short and blown to bits,” Peter chuckled, remembering the expression on his Uncle’s face.

Realization hit Tony like a tidal wave, pulling him out of his own cycle of shame. He finally looked up at Peter, tears threatening to spill over.

“But, meeting Iron Man was nothing like meeting you. It’s always a nice feeling when you meet your heroes and they’re not a dick.”

Tony threw his head back in laughter. 

“I missed you, kid,” he murmured, his voice catching in his throat. “C’mere.”

Peter leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Tony’s torso, his head coming to rest just on his shoulder.

“I missed you, too.”

They both stayed in the moment a bit longer, Tony thanking every God and deity he could think of that the boy in his arms was alive and breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter had only spent on more night in Medbay but Tony and May insisted on a few more days at the Tower, just to be safe. Peter couldn’t really blame them when they didn’t believe him when he said he was “ fine”.

One good thing about being in a coma was that he didn’t have to be reveal his identity to the rest of the team. He didn’t have to hold back when sparring with Natasha and he could now make full use of the open balcony as his primary entrance.

Saturday night had become the official/unofficial movie night. After they had gone through Steve’s list, they moved on to Peter’s favorites.

“Alright, what’s on tap for tonight?” asked Tony.

Peter held up Back to the Future and grinned. “It’s a classic!”

“For once I’m gonna agree with you, Pete. Unlike last week.”

“I don’t understand how anyone can not like Newsies.”

“How many people saw it?”  
“That’s not the point. It’s a cult classic.”

Tony smirked. “Agree to disagree, Pete.”

“Popcorn’s almost ready!” shouted Sam from the kitchen.

“Sam, can we not do so much butter this time?” asked Steve.

Sam’s mouth hung open in disgust. “How can you even call yourself American right now?”

“Alright, movie’s starting. Cap grab some extra napkins.” said Tony.

They all assumed their regular positions on various couches, blankets and chairs sprawled across the living room.

FRIDAY dimmed the lights as the screen descended from the ceiling.

“You know they never really explain why Doc and Marty are friends?” Peter whispered to Tony.

Tony smiled and tousled Peter’s hair, pulling the teenager in closer.

“Yeah, well, some things don’t need a reason.”

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> This is based partly off personal experience, but I'm sure there are medical inaccuracies in here as we'll.
> 
> Special thanks to @itsreallylaterirghtnow and @impravidus for cheering me on during this.
> 
> Comments welcome! Come chat on tumblr (peterstarkss)


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